BARAMULLA: A leopard mauled an 11-year-old boy to death on Saturday when he was playing with his friends in north Kashmir, another addition to incidents lately which underline a growing man-animal conflict in the Himalayan region.
The animal, officials said, roamed into Kreeri village in Baramulla from a nearby forest and attacked Kamran Ahmed Ganai before fleeing back.
The boy died of serious injuries at a hospital.
Residents of the area took to the streets shouting slogans against wildlife authorities, accusing them of having failed to prevent wild animals from wandering into villages.
Only two weeks ago, angry villagers in Gulgam village of Kupwara brutally killed a leopard even after wildlife officials had tranquilised it.
They pelted the animal with stones from all sides, angry as it attacked half a dozen people including women and children before it could be sedated.
Over half a dozen people were killed last year in attacks by wild animals, and scores of others were injured, wildlife officials say.
Leopard and Himalayan black bear populations have increased, they say, after a ban on hunting was enforced in Kashmir in 1970, and also that loss of pine forests is forcing animals to move down towards human settlements for food.
However experts also believe that the presence of security forces deep in the forests to fight armed rebels forced wild animals to leave their habitat and encounter human settlements.
Wild animals are now frequently killing people and livestock.
Authorities have set up control rooms and are distributing leaflets urging people living near forests to take precautions to prevent more casualties.
Police say at least six bears and leopards have been killed by villagers and authorities in the last ten months after attacking local people.
